Imperial Timeline
The following contains the notable or important events in the Empire of Man, utilising the Imperial Calendar. –1500 to –30 IC: Prehistory * –1500 -- Fleeing more powerful adversaries, agrarian Human tribes cross into the lands between the World's Edge and Grey Mountains. * –1000 -- The ancestors of the founding tribes of the Empire arrive, bringing with them the knowledge of bronze and the wheel. * c.–500 -- Humanity rises in the Old World. Numerous warlords, chieftains and petty kings war amongst themselves to establish realms in the northern Old World. Many tribes already live in the Steppes to the north and in the outer lands of the Chaos Wastes. Larger settlements are established along rivers and coastlines. Goblins, Beastmen, and other vile creatures prey upon these scattered tribes. A town is founded at the confluence of the Reik and Talabec rivers. As trade flourishes, the town becomes known as "rich village," or "Reichsdorf." This later becomes "Reikdorf." * –250 -- Dwarfs intensify trading with tribes of Men in the land to be known as the Empire. Men are poor craftsmen and learn comparatively slowly. * –50 -- Artur, chief of the Teutogens, discovers Fauschlag rock (later known as the Ulricsberg), and enlists the help of a Dwarf Clan to tunnel up through the mountain and build a mighty fortress. –30 to 50 IC: The Time of Sigmar * -30 -- A twin-tailed comet is seen in the skies. Sigmar is born to the chief of the Unberogen Tribe. * –20 -- Marius of the Jutones is defeated by the Teutogens and determines to lead his people to a new land. However, not all his folk are willing to leave their ancestral lands, which occupy parts of what would later become the provinces Nordland and Ostland. Marius leads the Jutones west and those who stay behind become known as the Was Jutones. Marius founds the new realm of Jutonsryk and becomes its first king. He begins a ten-year campaign to rid the Reik marshes of Mist Daemons. In response to the influx of Jutones into the marshes, Marbad, the chieftain of the Endals already scratching out a living there, founds the settlement of Marburg on the Reik estuary. Here he discovers an ancient Elven blade and names it Ulfshard. It becomes his symbol of power, upon which he will later swear his allegiance to Sigmar. * -15 -- A Dwarf trading convoy from Karaz-a-Karak is ambushed on its way to the Grey Mountains. Sigmar rescues Dwarf prisoners from the Orcs. Included among them is King Kurgan Ironbeard. Sigmar is given the magic hammer Ghal Maraz, or Skull Splitter, an ancient heirloom of the Dwarf King's family. * -8 -- Upon the death of his father, Sigmar becomes chief of the Unberogen tribe. * -7 -- Sigmar begins a campaign to unite all the surrounding human tribes into a single force, strong enough to destroy the greenskin threat. * -2 -- By this year, twelve tribes have been enveloped into Sigmar's Empire, either through war or diplomacy. Several others are allied with him. * -1 -- The Battle of Black Fire Pass. The united armies of Humans and Dwarf crush a Greenskin army and win the victory that makes the foundation of the Empire possible. Soon after, Dwarf artisans begin to travel to the Empire, where they are in demand. Humans and Dwarfs establish trade with each other and a measure of prosperity returns to the Dwarfen realms. An alliance of human tribes led by Sigmar and a Dwarf army under Kurgan Ironbear defeats a large Orc and Goblin army. * 1 -- Sigmar is crowned Emperor by the High Priest of Ulric. The Dwarf Runesmith Alaric begins the creation of the Runefangs. * c.2 -- The twelve tribal chieftains of Sigmar's Empire are named counts. Modern scholars claim that this word originates from the classical word comes, meaning "companion." * c.7 -- Sigmar travels to Brass Keep, where he slays the necromancer Morath and takes the Crown of Sorcery. Recognizing the great evil of this artifact, he locks it away in Reikdorf. * 11 -- Constant Drachenfels the Great Enchanter leads an army of goblins and daemons, hoping to destroy Sigmar's upstart Empire. At the Battle of Drakenmoor, he is defeated for the first time in his eternal existence. * 15 -- In an attempt to acquire the Crown of Sorcery, Nagash leads an army of undead against Reikland. However, he is struck down by Sigmar at the Battle of the River Reik. * c.30 -- Thirty years after Sigmar ascends the throne, the Empire teeters on the brink of ruin. Vorkhan Jarl, long having coveted his Emperor's power, seeks the aid of the Chaos Gods. Briefly tired of their constant fraternal warfare, the dark brothers grant Jarl's desires. In the battles that follow, the Daemons of Chaos slaughter their way into the legends of this new realm. Ultimately, Jarl's victory is cheated only by Sigmar's tireless courage and peerless battle-skill, and by the fact that the Chaos Gods grow bored on the very eve of victory, and recall their minions to more exciting conflicts within the Realm of Chaos. As the Dark Brothers cannot agree who has greatest claim on Jarl's black soul, they quarter the traitor; an equal share is thus apportioned to each benefactor. * 40 -- Talgris, son of Krugar, founds Talabheim. * 50 -- After a half century of building and prosperity in the newly proclaimed Empire, Sigmar vanishes into the east. The system of Elector Counts is established whereby the provincial leaders elect one of their number to be Emperor. The first Emperor elected by this system is Siegrich. 50 to 1152: The Early Empire * 51 -- Emperor Siegrich I dies in a hunting accident. After a month of contested elections, Hedrich of the Unberogens is elected Emperor, and the capital returns to Reikdorf. * 63 -- Wulcan, High Priest of Ulric, has a vision and builds a temple on a site in Middenheim, which starts a steady stream of pilgrims. * 69 -- Johann Helstrum claims to have had visions of Sigmar's ascension to godhood. He is readily believed by the Unberogens, who hold great love for their lost Emperor. * 73 -- Johann Helstrum becomes the first Grand Theogonist, the leader of spreading Cult of Sigmar, the Patron God of the Empire. In this year, he also builds a Temple to Sigmar in Reikdorf. * c. 100 -- Emperor Heydrich is presented with the Runefangs by Alaric the Mad and he passes them to the Counts. * 100 – 500 -- The electoral system is solidified, and the Cult of Sigmar becomes widespread, which leads to open conflict with the High Priest of Ulric. * 113 -- The temple to Ulric at Middenheim is completed. * 231 -- Daemonettes and Pink Horrors burst forth from the caverns below Middenheim. They wreak considerable damage to the city and lay waste to the western Drakwald before being vanquished at the ''Battle of Glencurst'' by the army of Count Reiner von Mechle. Von Mechle suffers terrible dreams for the rest of his life. Always the same, these nightmares have him striding eternally across a blasted and twisted landscape, populated by creatures much like those he had vanquished. His remaining years are spent in the care of one temple or another as the priests work to calm his ravaged soul. Fifteen years to the day of his victory, von Mechle vanishes from a locked room — what his ultimate fate is, none can say with certainty. * 246 -- Construction of new High Temple to Sigmar in Reikdorf is completed. The city becomes the centre of the rapidly spreading cult. * 322 -- Emperor Hündrod the Furious slays Mascar the Great Dragon in the Drakwald. * 400-900 -- Known by Imperial historians as "the Drive to the Frontiers" , it is an age of conquest and prosperity in which Sigismund II is made famous as "the Conqueror" upon his accession to the throne in 479. * 501 -- The army of Emperor Sigismund II defeats that of the King of the Jutones and adds the former lands of Jutonsryk to the province of Westerland. * 505 -- Death of Sigismund II. His son, Siegfried I succeeds him as Emperor. * 555 -- To avoid Middenheim's complete secession from the Empire, charter is granted. * 632 -- First Norse raids on Marienburg. * 765 -- The treaty at Athling of Traktatsey ends Norse raids on the growing settlement of Marienburg. * 1000 -- The birth of the Old World nations, start of a constant series of wars, and the fragmentation of Empire. Plague and civil disorder in the Empire make plans for colonising forest region impossible. Trappers and adventurers travel extensively along rivers as far as the headwaters of the Talabec. Imperial culture and authority are represented by missions of Taal and Rhya along major rivers, often at the sites of former Elven and Dwarfen settlements. * c.1000 to Present -- Count Shuvaltz of Averland hears hushed tales of treasures heaped in the ancient tombs of Nehekhara and he gathers together an army of mercenaries to march into the Land of the Dead. Shuvaltz's expedition is ambushed on its return to the Empire by legions of Skeletons that burst from the ground. Only a single bloodied soldier survives to make it back to the Empire. His ramblings of dead men walking are dismissed as desert-madness, but his mutters of golden artefacts are spread far and wide. Thus begins centuries of unbridled greed, where countless armies, adventurers, and tomb robbers from across the world travel to Nehekhara to find their fortunes. * 1010 -- Halflings are established in Stirland. Ludwig the Fat issues a royal charter to the Halflings of the Moot granting them administrative autonomy and an Imperial vote. * 1053 – 1115 -- Reign of Boris the Incompetent; corruption is rife, taxes are exorbitant, and the military is neglected almost completely. * 1102 -- Manaan is made patron deity of Marienburg. * 1106 – 1110 -- An ever-increasing number of Chaos beasts appears in the Drakwald. Vilner, heir to the Drakwald throne, is slain by a Bestigor. The Emperor places the Drakwald Runefang in the palace vaults, publicly stating he will return when he decides on a new heir. However, in truth, he has every intention of keeping it indefinitely. * 1109 -- Norse raid Marienburg. Snorri Half-hand proclaims himself Jarl of Vestland. Counts of Westerland hold out in Rijker's Isle. * 1111 -- The Black Plague arises and lasts until 1115, and almost nine-tenths of the human population of the Empire is wiped out. Skaven erupt to take advantage of the disaster. Many small settlements are abandoned due to falling populations and the depredations of the Skaven. In Sylvania the necromancer van Hel raises a huge Undead army from the bodies of the plague's victims and turns back the Skaven invaders. The bulk of Middenheim's populace avoids the plague due to strict isolation enforced by Graf Gunthar. Norse abandon Marienburg. Emperor Boris issues a decree eliminating tax exemption for the class of lowborn warriors known as Diensleute, prompting hundreds of unemployed soldiers under the leadership of Wilhelm Engel to march on Altdorf. The "Bread March" is violently put down by Boris's forces. Months later, an attempted aristocratic coup is also put down. * 1114 -- In order to avoid the plague, Emperor Boris returns to his ancestral castle in Carroburg. He apoints the captain of his secret police, Adolf Kreyssig, "Protector of the Empire." * 1115 -- The Skaven start to systematically enslave the surviving Human settlements in the Empire. The death of Emperor Boris Goldgather from the Black Plague. His reign was noted for the corruption of Imperial officials, exorbitant taxes, and neglect of the Imperial army. No successor is elected during the ensuing anarchy. * 1122 -- Count Mandred Ratslayer rallies support from the Elector Counts and leads a crusade against the Skaven. * 1124 -- Mandred finally drives out the Skaven and is elected Emperor by members of the three electoral bloodlines who have survived the plague and wars. * 1152 -- Assassination of the Emperor Mandred. The Elector Counts cannot agree upon a successor and the Empire divides into self-governing provinces. War between Talabecland and Stirland as rival would-be Emperors vie for power. 1152 to 1359 IC: The Age of Wars * 1153 – 1200 -- The villages of the Drakwald decline, as woods reclaim the land and settlements are overrun by Chaos beasts and Goblins. * 1248 -- Count Otto von Luitpold's prized antiquity collection is unsealed and put on display in the Altdorf museum, including the priceless Golden Death Mask of Kharnut. Sensing the presence of the ancient artefact, a dozen Tomb Kings awaken from their slumber and together they lead their combined armies into the heart of the Empire to retrieve it. 1359 to 1547 IC: The Imperial Civil War * 1359 -- Wilhelm, Grand Duke of Stirland is elected Emperor in Nuln. * 1360 -- Grand Duchess Ottilia of Talabecland declares herself Empress. A difference of opinion between Graf Heinrich and the High Priest of Ulric leads to the High Priest moving to Talabheim to support Ottilia. Defenceless Marienburg is sacked for the third time. Over the next few hundred years there are to be two Emperors, the elected Emperor and the reigning Count of Talabecland. * 1366 -- Tilean mercenaries begin to fight on both sides in civil wars that ravage the Empire. * 1414 -- Nordland and Middenland sign an agreement to divide the contested lands of Drakwald, ending the dispute over Mandred's edict. * c. 1450-1550 -- The Crusades against Araby. When knights return from their distant campaigns, they found new Knightly Orders and introduce the worship of Myrmidia to the Empire. * 1421 -- Shipbuilding in the Reiksport, Altdorf's natural harbour, becomes one of the city's most important industries. * 1485 -- The Battle of Bogwurst. * 1489 -- The Prince of Reikland formally commissions a state navy. Around this time, several low bridges are also built in Altdorf to limit the influence of ships from Talabheim, Carroburg, Nuln, and Marienburg. * c. 1520 -- While the Empire's armies are abroad fighting in the Crusades, Gorthor the Beastlord leads a beastman incursion, rampaging across Hochland and Ostland. 1547 to 1979 IC: The Age of Three Emperors * 1547 -- Rapprochement between the High Priest of Ulric and Graf/Grand Duke Heinrich is achieved by the Cult accepting a vow of celibacy for all priests (to avoid the High Priest of Ulric founding a rival dynasty). The Count of Middenheim proclaims himself Emperor. There are now three Emperors. None of them commands much loyalty amongst the other provinces, and each effectively rules an independent state. * 1550 -- War erupts between Middenheim and Talabheim, Middenland becomes a separate province. Marienburg is seized by the Bretonnian army under the Duke de L'Anguille. The five-year occupation ends when an army under the Grand Duke of Middenland approaches the city. * 1550 – 1978 -- The Empire steadily disintegrates, with an increase in the numbers of daemonologists, necromancers, and worshippers of the Chaos Gods. * 1604 -- Count van Buik grants a seat on the Marienburg City Council to merchants and ship-owners, marking the beginning of democratic government in Marienburg. * 1681 -- The Night of the Restless Dead. For one night throughout the known world the dead stir and walk the land, sowing terror and confusion amongst the living. Entire villages and towns are overrun and destroyed before the night of terror ends. * 1706 -- Emperor Sigismund IV receives letters and warnings from counts in Stirland about numerous deaths, robberies, and disappearances along its roadways. By his decree, those already patrolling the roads on behalf of their local leaders are granted a new status as official Roadwardens and given writs that grant them impressive legal powers in order to help stop banditry. Little does Emperor Sigismund realize that the real reason for the problems are not Human bandits, but raids by Orcs and Goblins. * 1707-1712 -- The Orc Warlord Gorbad Ironclaw invades the Empire through Black Fire Pass. Nuln is sacked and the Moot devastated. Solland is overrun and Count Eldred of Solland slain -- after this, Solland ceases to exist as a separate land. The Solland Runefang is captured by Orcs. Gorbad advances north along the Upper Reik. A large Imperial army under the Count of Wissenland is defeated at the ''Battle of Grunberg'' just south of Altdorf. Altdorf is besieged. The Emperor Sigismund IV (the remaining elected Emperor at this time) is killed by a Wyvern during the siege but Altdorf holds out. * 1812 -- Middenlanders lay siege to Middenheim, repulsed with Dwarfen aid. The Undercity is sealed for all time. * 1850 -- Norse raids along the Sea of Claws resume. Marienburg is sacked for the fourth and final time. * 1940 -- Constant Drachenfels invites the Elected Emperor Carolus II and much of his court to a great feast at his castle. At The Poisoned Feast, his guests ingest a paralyzing poison, and are starved to death in front of the magnificent banquet set out for them. This event wipes out several notable bloodlines of Reikland, and destabilizes the claim of the Elected Emperors. 1979 to 2304 IC: Dark Ages * 1979 -- Magritta of Marienburg is elected Empress by the Elector Counts not otherwise claiming the crown for themselves. The Grand Theogonist of Sigmar refuses to acknowledge the appointment and the Imperial system is effectively ended. From now until the time of Magnus the Pious there are no more Emperors and the lands become increasingly divided. As individual cities look to their own government the mercantile Burgomeisters gain in power. * c. 1988 -- The coastal town of Debneitz comes under attack by Dark Elf Corsairs. The Elector Count of Nordland, Alfrich Gausser, arrives with a relief army only to find the fortress town in ruins, the corpses of its entire populace flayed and nailed to the nearby cliffs. * 1999 -- Mordheim is destroyed by a twin-tailed comet. * 2000 -- Old Worlders exploring westwards are prevented from entering Ulthuan by Elves. * 2010 -- Wars of the Vampire Counts begin with devastation of Ostermark by Vlad von Carstein, the first of the notorious Vampire Counts of Sylvania. Undead armies rampage between Stirland and the northern border. * 2025 -- Vlad von Carstein is slain by Grand Master Kruger of the Knights of the White Wolf. Von Carstein returns a year later and Kruger's body is found at the base of Ulricsberg, drained of blood. * 2050 -- The Battle of Swartzhafen. * 2051 -- Vlad von Carstein is slain at the ''Siege of Altdorf'', and Isabella commits suicide rather than carry on in unlife without him. The Vampire Counts fight amongst themselves and their Undead army splinters into separate feuding forces. Meanwhile, the Flagellant Schism, a religious war, begins. It is set into motion when the Sigmarite prophet Gunther von Linten accidentally sets his beard on fire while lighting his pipe. * 2092 -- The Witch Hunter, Helmut van Hal, leads an army of Stirlanders into Sylvania, burning the villages of Dechstein and Lichenheim to ground and slaying the Vampire Lord Pieter von Carstein. * 2094 -- Konrad von Carstein emerges as the most powerful Vampire Count. * 2100 -- Before the Battle of Four Armies, several feuding Imperial claimants ally against Konrad von Carstein. However, several assassination attempts occur between the supposed allies, and the battle ends inconclusively. Following this, the leaders truly realize the need for an Emperor to lead them united against the vampiric threat. However, after Elector Count Helmut, the leading candidate, is revealed to be a zombie thrall of von Carstein, the plans for election are scrapped. * 2111 -- The Count of Middenland, Luitprand II, has the entire town of Rotebach hanged for "Chaotic allegiance." * 2121 -- The Battle of Grim Moor. * 2132 – 2145 -- Mannfred von Carstein, the last and most cunning of the Vampire Counts, launches a surprise attack against the Empire when it is in the grip of a vicious civil war. He almost succeeds in capturing Altdorf, but is finally forced to retreat back to Sylvania by a combined army of Empire troops, Dwarfs, and High Elves. Determined to end the threat of the Vampire Counts once and for all, the various factions of the Empire unite and, along with their Dwarf and High Elf allies, scour the dark forests of Sylvania. *2141 -- An Empire army from Reikland invades Quatar. Ramhotep the Visionary finishes construction of the Great Terracotta Wall, but it is destroyed during the Battle of the Steel Flame by Steam Tanks. Ramhotep swears he will reconstruct the wall using the bones of his enemies. * 2145 -- The Battle of Hel Fenn. Mannfred von Carstein, the last of the Vampire Counts of Sylvania, is destroyed along with his Undead hordes. * 2203 -- Daemons pour out of a rift to the Realm of Chaos that opened in Castle Drachenfels when its magical wards are distrubed. After Bögenhafen and Ubersreik are devastated, the rift closes as mysteriously as it opened. * 2225 -- Led by Graf Heimholtz, Templar Grand Master of the Knights of the Blazing Sun, an army of the Empire marches upon Numas. Though King Pharakh falls in combat against the Grand Master, the Graf is himself slain when the cursed Apophas appears and claims his soul. * 2302 -- The Great War against Chaos begins as the forces of Chaos march across the Lynsk and lay siege of Praag. Praag falls in winter of 2302/2303. * 2303 -- Magnus the Pious meets and defeats the Chaos armies at the gates of Kislev. 2304 to 2502 IC: The Empire Forged Anew * 2304 -- Magnus the Pious of Nuln elected Emperor. Rebuilding of the Empire, Magnus establishes his court at Nuln. Teclis founds Colleges of Magic in Altdorf. Magnus creates the Articles of Imperial Wizardry, a set of laws and rules which all users of magical abilities within the Empire must obey on pain of death. * 2308-2310 -- When the Reikland State Army musters in Ubersreik, the Duke of Parravon claims an ancient treaty is broken and invades Reikland over Grey Lady Pass. In the Third Parravon War, the Bretonnians are swiftly driven back to their own lands. The following year, the Reiklanders invade Parravon, and lay siege to the ducal castle. After a long and uneventful siege, the King of Bretonnian treats for peace on behalf of Parravon with Emperor Magnus I. However, following the Empire's victory, a battalion of Nordlanders are mistakenly attacked by a relief army of over-eager Stirlanders who have heard tales of brightly clothed foreigners with funny accents invading their lands. * c.2312 -- Waaagh! Gitrippa is obliterated at the gates of Carroburg by no less than six Steam Tanks. * 2344 -- Sack of Marienburg. * 2369 -- On the death of Magnus, the Empire passes not to his brother Gunthar von Bildhofen (having antagonised the Grand Theogonist), but to Count Leopold of Stirland. *2370 -- At the behest of the Elector Count of Middenland, a vast army of the Empire's soldiers and artillery ventures into the Middle Mountains to reclaim the Brass Keep from the Warriors of Chaos. The Chaos Warriors repel them, the Empire's artillery falling silent when Chimerae fall upon the crews and tear them to ribbons. With the artillery destroyed, the doors of Brass Keep grind open and a tide of frenzied warriors charge out, butchering the Empire's soldiers to a man. * 2371 -- Gunthar von Bildhofen's granddaughter marries Boris Todbringer, and their son becomes the first Todbringer Graf of Middenheim. * 2378 -- Marienburg's merchant fleets and militia conduct a highly successful campaign against the pirates. * 2383 -- Children report visions of Shallya in a grove outside Pfeildorf. Some claim they can work miracles. Inquisitors from Nuln take a dim view and have the children burned. The sect survives and becomes the Order of the Children of the Dove. * 2401 -- The Destruction of Waaagh! Gutstompa. * 2402-2405 -- The Duchy of Parravon invades Reikland a second time over Grey Lady Pass. Twice the Bretonnians lay siege to Ubersreik, but it does not fall. The Fourth Parravon War is ended when Dieter IV pays a very large sum of money in return for the Bretonnian retreat. * c.2410 -- In exchange for twelve dozen wagon-loads of gold, Dwarf craftsmen build Fortress Kreighof for the Elector Count of Ostermark. However, when the Dwarfs received their payment, they discover they have been short-changed by a measly two and a half pennies. They return to Kreighof with a sizeable army from Karak Kadrin and raze the fortress to the ground. * 2415 -- The Night of a Thousand Arcane Duels. Rivalries between the Colleges of Magic turn into outright violence, and for a single night, the sky above Altdorf is lit with fireballs, lightning bolts and multicoloured flashes of light as wizards turn their powers and war machines upon each other. Order is restored after a magical backlash kills six of the eight Patriarchs in a variety of gruesome and horrific ways. Following this, the Cult of Sigmar pressures Emperor Dieter IV to disestablish the colleges and outlaw wizardry. Eventually, he bows to this pressure * 2420 -- The Goblin Warlord Grom the Paunch leads a Waaagh! of Orc and Goblin tribes into the World's Edge Mountains. The lack of battle wizards is widely blamed for many of the Imperial forces defeats during this campaign. * 2424 -- After defeating the Dwarfs at the Battle of Iron Gate, Grom's army moves into the Empire. Much of the north and east is devastated and parts of Nuln are burnt to the ground. Grom leads his army to the sea where he builds a huge fleet and sails into the west, never to be seen again in the Old World. * 2429 -- Marienburg secedes from the Empire after the Burgomeisters collude with Emperor Dieter IV to secure their independence in return for Marienburger gold. When the scandal comes to light, the Electors invoke anti-corruption laws from the era of Magnus the Pious and depose Dieter. Wilhelm III takes the throne. The crown passes to the Elector Counts of Reikland. A daring trio of illusionists attached to a prestigious theatre company staying in the Imperial Palace in Altdorf make off with a fine selection of treasure from Emperor Wilhelm III’s collection. Wilhelm III orders a mass trial for wizards on charges of witchcraft and consorting with Chaos. The ''Battle of Grootscher Marsh'' is fought when the Electors pressure the newly-elected Wilhelm to retake Marienburg. In late autumn, battle is engaged, and Empire forces are defeated soundly. After the battle, Wilhelm verbally acknowledges the Wasteland's secession, but he never officially regonized their independence with a treaty. Meanwhile, Duke Frederik turns Tarhelm's Keep into a prison. * 2430 -- In frustration over his defeat at Grootscher Marsh, Wilhelm III reinstates the Colleges of Magic. Significant resources are also invested in shipbuilding. * 2431 -- An accident at the newly reestablished Bright College leads to the Great Fire of Altdorf. Wilhelm is pressured to once again disestablish the Colleges of Magic, but instead opts to keep them open, albeit with increased oversight from the Cult of Sigmar. * 2448 -- Marienburg is flooded. The Vloedmuur defences are extended and the drainage system improved. * 2449 -- In Marienburg, rioting spreads from the Suiddock throughout the city in response to anti-Labour Guild laws passed by the City Council. * 2453 -- At the Fourth Siege of Altdorf, the Liche King, Arkhan the Black, rides at the head of a vast army of skeletal warriors directly towards the gates of Altdorf. However, the bold frontal assault is a fiendish diversion. As the city's state troops defiantly hold back the Undead legions at Altdorf's walls, Arkhan uses magic to break into the catacombs beneath the Temple of Sigmar and steal the dreaded Liber Mortis. As soon as he escapes with the tome, his army collapses once more, leaving the Empire soldiers standing in bewilderment. * 2457 -- Egrimm van Horstmann, High Luminary of the College of Light Magic, is finally beguiled by the whispered promises of Tzeentch. Van Horstmann sells his allegiance to Chaos and frees the Chaos Dragon Baudros from his magical prison. * 2460 -- The Wrath of Karanak. Ricart Drallborg, aspirant wizard of the Gold Order, summons the Daemon-hound to eliminate his rivals. Alas for Drallborg his enchantments cannot cage Karanak and the Gold Wizard is the first to feel the beast's jaws. Sustained by the stray energies within the Gold College, Karanak then hunts freely and slaughters all the wizards within its walls. * 2465 -- The Battle of Schrolnetz Plain. * 2470 -- Emperor Luitpold and his infant son, Karl Franz, are ambushed in the Reikwald Forest by Beastmen. The Reiksguard bravely defend their lord, but they are butchered by a trio of Ghorgons. Just when it looks as if the Emperor and his son are about to fall to a Minotaur's axe, Wood Elves burst out of the forest and come mysteriously to their rescue, cutting the beastmen down in a hail of arrows, before vanishing back into the trees. * 2480 -- Constant Drachenfels is slain by Oswald von Königswald, Crown Prince of Ostland. * 2483 -- Emperor Luitpold signs a treaty with the Wasteland allowing the ships of the Imperial Navy to pass through Marienburg- for a very high toll. * 2499 -- Skaven erupt from the sewers of Nuln, destroying whole quarters of the city. 2502 IC to Present Day: The Reign of Karl Franz * 2502 -- Emperor Luitpold dies in his sleep. Shortly after, King Louen of Bretonnia is granted a vision of prophecy by the Lady of the Lake. He sees the Old World in ruins, with the Ruinous Powers reigning supreme. He understands that Bretonnia needs an equally strong neighbour to form a bulwark against the predations of the Dark Gods. The Empire however, has been left weak, and only stands a chance with Emperor Karl Franz on the throne. Meeting with the King at Axe Bite Pass, Franz is informed of this prophecy. He is told to return to his homeland and secure the throne, not for himself, or for Louen, but for the entire Old World. Shortly after his return to Altdorf, Karl Franz is elected by a close margin and crowned in the High Temple of Sigmar. His first act is to lead an army to aid the Elector Count of Nordland to repel a massive invasion of Norse barbarians. Aided by the wizards and war machines of the Celestial College, Karl Franz predicts where and when the northern marauders plan to attack. With this knowledge, he prepares a well-executed ambush that devastates the Norse forces before they even realise they are under attack. The Emperor personally leads the Reiksguard in the final charge against the Norse shield wall, and in doing so, establishes a reputation as a brilliant and courageous military leader. * 2505 -- The Battle of Stuttburg Meanwhile, the playwright Detlef Sierck is appointed by the crown to stage an amibitious play in Castle Drachenfels. The performance goes horribly wrong. * 2505 - Present -- The Emperor dispatches the Reikmarshal, Kurt Helborg, to lead his armies in battle against numerous foes; the Ogre reavers of Gutlord Breaskus, the Orcs of the Blighted Towers and many others. Kurt Helborg leads the Empire's armies to victory after victory, establishing his name as one of the greatest generals and tacticians of his age. * 2508 -- A scandal involving a Chaos Cult leads to the fall of the house of Teugen in Bögenhafen. Malathrax the Mighty, a massive Doomfire Dragon, terrorises Reikland. Several villages are razed, and the Dragon single-handedly destroys the Knightly Order of the Ebon Sword. Malathrax is tracked down by the Huntsmarshal, Markus Wulfhart, and his regiment of monster hunters, and ambushed whilst resting on the banks of the River Reik. The Dragon is slain before it can reach the opposite river bank after the Huntsmarshal shoots not one, but three arrows through its heart. * 2509 – 2511 -- Tamurkhan the Maggot Lord, body-thief and favoured of Nurgle, leads a mighty incursion of Chaos in a great scything arc down the Mountains of Mourn and sweeping across the Dark Lands, laying all desolate in his wake. With the Chaos Dwarfs and a horde of nightmarish beasts as his allies, he lays waste to the Border Princes and strikes at the Empire's underbelly. In c.2511, he is finally defeated at the gates of Nuln. * 2512 -- Baugard the Rash, of Bretonnia, launches an attack upon the Empire to avenge an insult done to his infamously ugly wife by the visiting Elector Count of Averland, Marius Leitdorf. The short-lived crusade is ended before the walls of Helmgart when the knights are bloodily repulsed by the keep's massed Helblaster Volley Gun batteries. * 2512-2515 -- Azhag the Slaughterer leads a huge army of Orcs and Night Goblins into the northern Empire, burning and pillaging vast swathes of land. * 2515 -- Slaughter at Volganof. Lord Mortkin's bloody rampage through Kislev and Ostland is ended during the Siege of Volganof, though the city itself is burned to the ground. * 2515 -- The Beastlord Graktar destroys Gortsburg and Leitenbad, but loses the ''Battle of Helmgart''. * 2516 -- The Empire stands on the brink of civil war as Theoderic Gausser -- the Elector Count of Nordland -- seeks to enact his territorial ambitions against neighbouring Hochland. The Emperor asks Balthasar Gelt to intervene on his behalf, and the Supreme Patriarch travels to Nordland's capital of Castle Salzenmund. Though ostensibly there as an ambassador, Gelt secretly transmutes the gold earmarked for Theoderic's armies and mercenaries into worthless bars of lead before returning to Altdorf on the back of a Pegasus. The hired swords refuse to fight without payment and the looming threat of civil war is narrowly averted. In revenge, Thoederic swears he will have Gelt's head. Meanwhile, the son of Aldebrand Ludenhof, Elector Count of Hochland, falls ill with a mysterious illness. He is treated by a cloaked doctor who instructs him to drink a potion should the symptoms return. Upon drinking the tainted elixir, he is transformed into a hideous mutant that slaughters a dozen of the Count's most trusted advisors before sloping off to the north to obey its new master, Festus the Leechlord. * 2516 – 2517 -- The Beastlord Graktar is defeated in a challenge by Khazrak who embarks on a series of raids across Drakwald, sacking Jagerhausen, Immelscheld, and Arenburg. * 2517 -- The Battle of Bones. The Vampire Lord Zacharias the Everliving raises an army of Skeletons and Zombie Dragons and attacks Wissenland. The Empire forces, hard pressed to hold back the terrifying hordes, believe they are doomed when a second Undead host approaches from the south to surround them. However, this army, led by a mummified king, instead bolsters the faltering Empire line and together they drive the shambling hordes of Zacharias back. In Reikland, Karl Franz personally leads an army into Bloodpine Woods to purge its Forest Goblin threat. At the Battle of Bloodpine Woods, the Empire is victorious and the Spiderclaw Tribe is eradicated. Meanwhile, Gunthur Johans of Middenheim, a devout man of Sigmar in a city of staunch worshippers of Ulric, designs and invents a machine he calls the printing press. Variations on Johans' designs spread to other major cities, and by the time of 2522 most printing presses are quite efficient, leaving the illumination processes of the years past to wizards and their books of arcane lore. * 2518 -- Boris Todbringer the Second purges Drakwald of Beastmen and personally takes the eye of Khazrak at the ''Battle of Elsterweld''. Meanwhile, the chaos incursion of Grakthor Flameaxe is vanquished by a host of Flagellants lead by Grand Theogonist Volkmar himself. At the end of the battle, known as the Martyrs of Taalfjord, only Volkmar and a score of flagellants are left standing. * 2519 -- Khazrak takes out Todbringer's right eye in an ambush outside Norderingen. The Count offers a 10,000-crown reward on Khazrak's head. Meanwhile, the Battle of Six Spikes is won when Balthasar Gelt harnesses the rampant Storm of Magic to turn the entire Chaos army into a forest of golden statues. * 2520 -- ''The Third Battle of Black Fire Pass'', and the'' Siege of Middendorf. Festus the Leechlord continues to blight the Empire with his dark experiments, unleashing a strain of Eyeslime Fever so virulent that the death it causes allows a horde of Daemons to manifest within the Empire, laying siege to the city of Middendorf. However, the defenders are rallied to victory by Luthor Huss. * '''2521' -- The Imperial School of Engineers claim that their ingenuity surpasses that of their Dwarf allies, leading to raging arguments. The resultant "field testing contest" escalates when each side decides to demonstrate their superiority in the field of counter-battery fire. Before long the air is filled with silvered shot, runic cannonballs, flaming naptha and helstorm rockets, whilst exploding flying machines and clockwork angels duel with steel zeppelins and Gyrocopter squadrons in the skies above. * 2521 – 2522 -- United by the Lord of the End Times, Archaon, marauders from the Chaos Wastes pour southwards in ever greater numbers. Luthor Huss discovers the youth Valten and claims he is Sigmar Reborn. Emperor Karl Franz convenes the Conclave of Light to discuss the growing threat from the north. Dubbed the Storm of Chaos, the northmen invasion sweeps through Kislev and into the Empire. Huss and Valten meet Karl Franz. The Emperor gifts Valten with Ghal-Maraz and dubs him the Champion of Sigmar, but retains rule of the Empire. Archaon is intent on defiling the Flame of Ulric in Middenheim. The combined forces of Middenland, Ostland, and Hochland slow the attack. A force led by Karl Franz containing Teclis and Valten drives the remnants of Archaon's force from Middenheim. Valten is grievously wounded in the fighting. After the defeat of the Chaos horde, the Empire is riven by a religious schism. Valten is initially found murdered in the Temple of Shallya, but his body disappears. It is claimed that he will return again when he is needed. * 2522 -- The present day. Canon Conflict As of the End Times, the later events of the Storm of Chaos are no longer canon. Sources * : Warhammer Armies: Empire (4th Edition) ** : pg. 11 * : Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Sigmar's Heirs ** : pg. 20 ** : pg. 21 ** : pg. 14 ** : pg. 102 * : Warhammer Armies: Empire (7th Edition) ** : pg. 203 * : Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition) ** : pg. 17 * : Warhammer Fantasy Armies: Core (7th Edition) ** : pg. 207 * : Warhammer Armies: Daemons of Chaos (8th Edition) ** : pg. 17 ** : pg. 18 ** : pg. 19 ** : pg. 21 ** : pg. 22 ** : pg. 23 * : Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd ED -- Shades of the Empire ** : pg. 114 * : Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (8th Edition) ** : pg. 15 * : Warhammer Armies: Tomb Kings (8th Edition) ** : pg. 21 ** : pg. 59 * : Warhammer Armies: Empire (8th Edition) ** : pg. 16 ** : pg. 17 ** : pg. 33 * : Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd Edition -- Old World Armoury ** : pg. 65 * : White Dwarf 243 (US) ** : pg. 31 * : Warhammer Fantasy RPG 4th Edition -- Core Rulebook ** : pg. 272 ** : pg. 273 ** : pg. 274 ** : pg. 275 * : Time of Legends: Empire (Novel) by Graham McNeill ** : Chapter 11: "The Mountains of Fear" ** : Chapter 13: "A Warning Unheeded" * : Warhammer Core Rulebook (8th Edition) ** : pg. 177 * : Dead Winter (Novel) by C.L. Werner ** : Chapter 1 ** : Chapter 2 ** : Chapter 6 ** : Chapter 18 * : Blighted Empire (Novel) by C.L. Werner ** : Chapter 2 ** : Chapter 3 * : Prince of Altdorf (Novella) Category:The Empire Category:Timelines Category:I Category:T